Originally Posted by
Captain Schmidt
Actually, that depends... For someone British like myself, yes we distinguish between "immigration" and "customs", however our American friends use the term "customs" to mean both - CBP is the federal agency tasked with securing the US borders. CBP = Customs and Border Patrol which tends to end up getting shortened in every day speak to "customs".
Customs is about goods, Immigration is about people. It is important to know and understand the difference, and we should continue to correct people who use the word "Customs" wrongly, at least when it's in a European context.
Using "Customs" to mean "Immigration" is comparable to using the word "England" to mean Great Britain or the UK or the British Isles. ("I'm going to England next year" - "Where?" - "Guernsey". SCREAM!)